The Plastic Ring
by Super-sonic Iblish
Summary: Knuckles and Amy are happily dating, and have been for over two years,but they both have a secret... their relationship. None of their friends know about this secret love affair, until one night when a picture of the two of them kissing leaks onto the internet. What happens to the two, and why doesn't Amy want Sonic to see that picture? Rated T for language and sexual themes.


**Dear readers,**

**I hope you enjoy this new story! It involves Knuxamy, so if you don't like the couple, then don't read and save me the aggrivation of reading your hate comments.**

**If you like Knuxamy, then good for you!**

**(PS, I mention "The Hobbit" and "Pride and Prejudice" in this chapter. Obviously I do not own these books/movies and they belong to their rightful authors. And just for clarency, I also do not own Sonic and co, they belong to Sega.)**

* * *

The Plastic Ring  
_Chapter 1_

I giggled excitedly as I changed out of my clothes and put on my best evening dress. It was a nice, white strapless that fell down just past my knees. I had been told that white really looked nice with my hair and fur, and I guess you could be correct in saying that. I sighed at the thought of another great night, and I grabbed for my pants, which I'd discarded on the floor of my apartment. I dug in my pockets and pulled out a few quarters, which I fingered in my hands and listened to their small jingling sound before I clenched them in my fist and headed towards the mirror to check how my hair looked.

Only a couple minutes later, I walked out of the room, where my best friend was waiting for me. I smiled at him and took his hand as we headed downstairs and into the lobby. "You look beautiful," he told me as we headed down the stairs. That made me blush, but not as much as it did the first time he'd said that to me, back when we were young.

We stumbled out of the stairwell, laughing our heads off. Apparently, one of us said something funny, and the rest of the way down, it was just laughter, laughter, and even more laughter! I don't even remember what was said! And then I ended up pushing Knuckles through the doorway out of the stairwell, and we both nearly tripped on each other, looking like we were drunk off our rockers! As we walked into the lobby, we quickly found that we were the only two people making any loud noises, probably because it was late in the evening. We didn't quiet down, however. We didn't care if the persnickety old lady who walked by sneered at us as we stumbled past, or if the bellboy stared at us as we both chuckled like nobody was listening and talked several decibels louder than we needed to be. We were in too good of a mood to have people around us ruin our good times.

There was a small, family-owned restaurant on the ground floor next to the lobby, and right past the door were a few quarter machines, you know the kind; you'd put in a quarter or fifty cents, and out pops a random prize or piece of jewelry in a plastic container, or a handful of candy that you'd have to somehow catch in your hands when you open the door flap. None of that stuff is even worth twenty-five cents, besides maybe the candy, but it always excited us as little children to see what we'd gotten in those cute little plastic spheres… even though we usually ended up losing the toy two days after we got it every time. That was why we always had the tradition of coming here before each date, to bring back childhood memories.

Anyways, I looked to Knuckles and gave him a big, goofy smile as we approached the machines. "Got your quarters?" I asked him. He nodded back with a smile and raised his hand, to show ten shining quarters in his hand, which was the same amount that I had. We approached one machine in particular, one that gave cheap, plastic necklaces, rings, and bracelets, and we knelt down to get a good look at the different prizes on the poster on top of the glass.

"Which one are you going for?" Knuckles asked me. We'd somehow made this into a little game over the months. We'd bet on the ones we think we'd get, and then keep going until either you got it or you ran out of quarters.

I smiled back at him and looked at the poster, looking at the different choices available. There were ten pieces altogether, each of them cheap and not worth a quarter, but each of them different and beautiful in their own ways. A couple of them were rings, three were necklaces, and five were bracelets.

"That one," I replied, pointing to a ring with a pretty gold-colored plastic band and a small, red plastic flower blooming from the middle like a diamond would on a wedding ring.

"Rose, that's the one you always go for, and you never get it!" Knuckles replied, "Aren't you gonna try something different?" he asked.

"No, this time I'm going to get it! Just you watch" I replied with a competitive smirk, and I childishly stuck my tongue out at him. Knuckles huffed near my face, and I could taste the Red Bull on his breath. I coughed overdramatically in my hand and spoke. "Why? Which one are you going for this time?" I asked him. Knuckles hummed in thought for a moment, tapping his chin with his finger, before he pointed on the poster to one of the bracelets that had a money sign on it.

"That one this time," he replied with a smirk.

"I doubt you'll get it!" I quickly replied as I picked out one of my quarters.

"Try me. I always get the ones I say I will, because I look to see which ones are coming up next in the machine," Knuckles replied, with his usual "I know everything" attitude. I huffed back, and held up my first quarter.

"We'll just see about that then! Ready?" I asked him. He sighed, not the kind of response I was expecting from him.

"Remember when we used to do this as kids?" he asked me with a friendly smile pointed in my direction. I smiled back and nodded, before I spoke again.

"You ready?" He nodded.

"You first." Without a word, I inserted a coin into the machine, and as I did every time, I clenched my jaw and closed my eyes, my free hand's pointer and middle finger crossing, as I twisted the knob. I heard the familiar clicking sound as I twisted the knob around and around again, and then it jammed to a stop, signifying that I had my prize. I opened my eyes and reached inside, pulling out the plastic container like I was a kid on Christmas day, and I peered inside. But after realizing it was not the one I was hoping for, I moaned in defeat and lowered my hand to my side.

"Nope, not the one," I replied, and I looked to Knuckles. "Go ahead, your turn."

* * *

We walked back upstairs, and yet again, and I still didn't get the ring I hoped for. Knuckles got the money sign bracelet on his third try, and got to keep the rest of his quarters, while I used up all of mine trying for that ring, _again_. As we walked back towards our rooms, Knuckles held his arm around my waist, and I had my head resting on his shoulder. It probably looked awkward to passersby, but it was surprisingly comfortable walking this way, and we've done it too many time before. We were heading back to our rooms to drop off our bounty of plastic riches before we headed out for another fun date.

I unlocked the door with my key card and walked inside quietly, knowing that Cream and her mother Vanilla stayed in the room next door, and they were probably asleep by now. I walked up to the cabinet that sat between the two beds in the room and opened the center drawer, to reveal a plethora of plastic containers from every single time we've ever done this together. There had to be at least fifty in there, and they all rolled and clacked into each other every time I opened the drawer. I shoved ten new plastic containers, full of rings, bracelets, and necklaces into the drawer and slid it shut. And after a quick check to make sure my dress was still on straight, I shut off the lights in my room and headed out, waiting for Knuckles to do the same so we could begin our date. As I waited for him to emerge, my eyes rolled up to the ceiling as I thought about the last couple of weeks.

Last weekend, Knuckles and I went to see the midnight premier of _The Hobbit_, which was amazing! He and I spent the entire time cheering, with the millions of other fans of the book, at the parts that we loved. After that, we had breakfast at Denny's. He kept trying to tell me that he wanted to take me to a fancier restaurant for dinner, but he'd lost their reservation; I told him I didn't mind, and that was the end of it. We ate and commented on stuff from the movie that didn't happen in the book, and how it could've been better or worse, enjoying our morning before we headed back home.

The weekend before that, it was the week after the New Year, and we went ice skating on the Citi Pond at Bryant Park, New York. Music was playing and it was still decorated in beautiful white lights for Christmas, making it very romantic… and cold! But then again, it was only the beginning of January, so what did we expect? Oh my gosh, and the holidays were so wonderful with him around! I gave Knuckles a song book for Christmas, to write all his new songs down in, and he got me a pretty charm bracelet! Knuckles visited my room at ten-thirty on New Year's Eve, and we kissed at midnight as the ball dropped in Times Square, which we could see from our window.

Tonight, we planned to go laser tagging, which was why we got an earlier start that time. After an hour or two of that, we were going to go to a place and get some dinner, then maybe catch a movie or something. We didn't have big plans this time, we just wanted to enjoy each other's company.

We came back out of the stairwell and walked into the lobby, quieter this time. We headed for the double doors, when Knuckles gasped and took me by the arm.

"What? What's wrong?" I exclaimed, before Knuckles shushed me pulled me aside, through another door. As we tumbled into the dark room, we found that it was the janitor's closet, when a mop fell against us and nearly scared the crap out of us both. "What is wrong?" I asked again, whispering this time.

"It's Sonic," Knuckles whispered back, as he and I peeked through the door, which we left open a crack, and found Sonic walking up to the front desk to talk to the person there. For a few moments, the only sound was our steady breathing, as we watched Sonic chat with the man at the desk and walk away. We both sighed a breath of relief.

"That was a close one!" I commented with a small, nervous laugh, earning a "yeah" in reply from Knuckles. Just then, the door swung open, and whoever opened the door could see the two of us as we huddled together in the janitor's closet, looking like we were doing other things besides hiding. We both screamed, startled at first by the sudden surprise, and the man who'd opened the door, the janitor, screamed as well and dropped his broom. He continued to stare at us with wide, confused eyes, while we tumbled our way out of the small closet. We both got out of there pretty quickly after that, after muttering our apologies to the janitor that is. Once we were outside, we started to chuckle, then laugh, as we started to walk.

"That was so embarrassing!" I choked out among my laughter.

"I hope we never run into that guy again!" Knuckles replied, also among laughter. We settled down quickly and took each other's hands as we walked the rest of the way in the brisk January evening to the laser tag place.

* * *

Laser tagging was great; I beat Knuckles, which was an accomplishment! I guess he's better at shooting in video games than he is in real life. After a bit of gloating, the two of us left and had dinner at Olive Garden. I had never guessed Knuckles to like Italian food, and this is after we've been dating for nearly two years! Well, I guess you learn new things every day, huh?

After Italian food, we headed to the nearby cinema, to see if there were any good movies out.

As we looked at the pictures of the popular listings outside the theatre, I sighed and looked to Knuckles. He wasn't looking at me, and I almost preferred that; it gave me a perfect opportunity to absorb how perfectly amazing he was! His red hair was flowing freely in the bitter cold wind, and his breath billowed in hazy, foggy clouds from his mouth. His violet eyes reflected the moon like two pools of water, and glinted with their own little sparkle from the stars as he scanned over the different movie titles. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that I was staring at him, and he looked to me with his lips curled into a small smile. I found myself grinning like an idiot as I looked into his beautiful eyes, and I approached him and hugged him, resting my head on his chest.

"I love you," I murmured to him.

"Yeah, I love you too," he replied, his voice just above a whisper. The two of us just sat there for a moment, before Knuckles stroked my back and looked down at me. "Y'know, there aren't any good movies out right now anyways. Wanna just go back home?" he asked me. I shook my head no, my face rubbing against his warm chest.

"I don't care," I mumbled through the fur of his chest, before I looked up to continue. "I just want this night to last forever." I rose onto my toes so I could reach his face, and I gently placed my lips on his. We kissed for several seconds, before we heard a voice that broke our kiss and made us look to the side in alarm.

"Amy? Amy Rose?"

The voice belonged to Rouge, and when we looked towards the voice, we found the bat and her boyfriend Shadow walking out from the cinema, but stopping to catch a glimpse of us two sucking lip. I froze, forgetting that I was still in Knuckles' arms, and I stared at the white bat in shock with my cheeks growing red and hot. She raised her gloved hand up from her side, revealing that she had her cell phone in her hand, and I gasped. Rouge snapped a quick picture of us two together, and I just stood there as she did it! That was the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life!

"Rouge, this isn't what it looks like!" I cried, stepping out of Knuckles' arms.

"Really? Because it looked to me like you the echidna were just making out outside the theatre," Shadow commented in an emotionless voice. Knuckles was walking up behind me, slower than I, and he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"He has a name… and you stay out of this!" I snapped to Shadow, before I turned to Rouge. "Please Rouge, don't send that photo!" I cried.

"Too late," Rouge replied with a smile. There was a ding that came from her phone, and she looked at it. "Wow, fifteen replies already!" she said, as she took Shadow's hand and the two walked away.

Knuckles and I stood apart from each other, and I watched Rouge and Shadow walk away as tears built up in my eyes and fogged up my vision. I muttered "oh God" as I rested my face in my hands. A moment later, Knuckles was hugging me close, whispering "ssshh, it'll be ok. What're the chances that Sonic sees that?" I looked up and sniffled.

"You're right," I mumbled, but deep down, I knew this was going to be the start of a horrible day tomorrow.

After that spectacle, we headed home. I was too worried and exhausted, and I couldn't clear my head enough to enjoy the rest of the evening. Knuckles asked if I wanted him to stay with me for awhile, and I nodded. I needed all the comfort I could get right then! If Sonic saw that picture, I'd be completely screwed!

After a quick shower, I went to my bed and sat down, and Knuckles sat next to me. He'd turned on the TV while I was in the shower, and had it on a cop show… CSI Miami I think. I laid my head against his shoulder, my wet hair sticking to my cheek, and Knuckles looped an arm around my back to grab my arm on the other side. We sat that way, watching the TV silently for a little while, before I spoke.

"What if Sonic did see that picture?" I asked Knuckles worriedly. Knuckles started stroking my arm gently, his soft skin rubbing against mine.

"If he does, we'll face him bravely and say it is true," he said quietly. "Sonic shouldn't be in control of _our_ relationship anyways." I nodded in agreement at this, but there was still a small feeling of fear if and when the blue hedgehog found out.

I quickly found myself falling asleep by Knuckles' side, and as I was sinking into dreamland, I began to think back to the time Knuckles first told me he loved me. It was, without a doubt, the happiest day of my life… but also the worst, at the same time.

* * *

We were in Hollywood for the production of Sonic X. This particular story took place during the taping of the second season, about halfway through the entire show. Things were going good, we were starting the recording of another episode for the soon-to-be smash TV show… at the time we thought it'd be a bit more popular than it turned out to be.

Now, here's a little tidbit for you, if you [among the readers] are humans. Since you aren't from Mobius, you've probably never seen anything about our personal lives besides from Sonic X and the cut scenes on the video games. I don't know what you guys think we're like, but that's all just a script. We're similar to what you see in the games, but a lot of our character over-exaggerated or completely made up for the part.

First of all is me. You all know me, Amy Rose the hedgehog. Well, for starters, let me make it perfectly clear; I'm not twelve, okay? Sega made me seem younger just because I can look the part, and they wanted me to be like the "damsel in distress" or something. I was fourteen when they shot Sonic X, now I'm 16, got that? Second of all, no way in heck am I obsessive over Sonic! I don't even like him in _that _way, because we've been friends forever, and it'd be too weird to even think about us dating! I know things you do not ever want to know about this hedgehog, guys; he's not dating material in my mind! I, personally, like a guy who shares my interests; reading, writing, and movies made from good books. And third of all, I'm not some crazy, hammer-wielding bitch with anger issues. The only time I really used the hammer was on the set of Sonic X, and it's just made out of Styrofoam.

Sonic the hedgehog is still just as much of a cocky bastard with quick feet as he's portrayed, but he can swim just fine. In fact, one summer, he was the lifeguard at the local beach. Otherwise, Sonic's still basically the same; he likes sports and running, running and sports, the whole deal. He's also got a seriously big crush on me… and it's kind of embarrassing.

Shadow can be kind of reclusive, but in no way is he this strange man-made creation that is the face of "forever alone" all over the fandom. He's fifteen years old, just like Sonic; none of this "fifty years ago he was created, and he technically has no age" bull crap! Shadow's the artistic one… besides Knuckles. He could spend hours by himself with just a pencil, eraser, and a pad of paper, and he'd stay occupied just fine. I could never do that, so I envy him. Shadow's also dating Rouge, which wasn't really a surprise to us all.

Tails… surprisingly he's pretty much the same as they make him out to be… except he actually sucks at building things; he can come up with the ideas, but he has a hard time putting them into action. He's also faster than they make him seem in games; for a little guy, he sure can run!

Eggman is amazingly hilarious! I guess people are right when they say that the best part to play is the villain! Everything about Eggman's story is fake; he's not evil (although his evil laugh is amazing) and he's not even a doctor… he's a principal at the local high school. He's just a great guy who kinda needs to go to the gym just a little bit.

Rouge is like the classic "mean girl." She joined Sega mainly for the fame and recognition, and she's always being caught breaking the dress code with her low-neckline shirts. She doesn't like me for some reason. She's fine with everyone else [more than fine with Shadow], but not with me, I don't know what's wrong with her!

Knuckles is still a hardheaded, hotheaded guy [although not as bad as they make it seem], but he's actually very smart and artistic too, but not Shadow-type artistic. Knuckles is more into musical arts; he's constantly writing music and stories, and sometimes I help him come up with lyrics! He plays tons of instruments, including piano, guitar, bass guitar, and drums. He's like his own one-man band! The only thing I've never been able to get him to do before was sing; he'd never do it when I asked, the guy's too modest. He always makes me sing the songs after he wrote them, which I don't mind, but I always wanted to know what his singing voice sounded like, y'know?

Oh, and another thing; the whole story about him being the last echidna alive, living all alone on a floating island, guarding a powerful rock… that's all fake! It was written for a story background for the games. We visit Knuckles' parents very often, and they like me very much; Knuckles lives in a nice apartment right near mine in upstate New York; and the so-called "Master Emerald; most powerful gem in the universe" is just a metal frame, covered with Plexiglas, and filled with tons of glowing green lights. What, did you think that kind of ultimate power could be stored within a rock? Yeah right, and next you're going to tell me that hedgehogs can't talk!

Anyways, we were comfortable on a hot, summer afternoon in an air-conditioned building, with alien-like planet sets around us for the different scenes, just like every other normal day for us. That one day, however, was different. I was sitting down at my break, reading a good book and drinking some coffee to keep me awake, when Sonic strolled up to me.

"Hey Ames," he said. I looked up at him and smiled. Only Sonic was allowed to call me Ames, because I normally disliked that name, but he was one of my best friends, and he seemed to make it work.

"Hi Sonic!" I said, before I looked back down at the book again. It grew awkwardly quiet for a few seconds, but since I had something to occupy that time, I was good. Sonic cleared his throat. "So… What're you reading?" he asked me. I raised the cover up so Sonic could read the title for himself; don't judge me, I was too engrossed in what was happening to take time and stop just to tell him the name! "Ah, _Pride and Prejudice_," Sonic said with a nod, "That's an older book, right?" he asked me. I could tell he had no clue what _Pride and Prejudice_ was about just by the way he said that last line.

"It's a classic," I replied, looking up. "It's a wonderful love story, you ought to read it sometime." Sonic huffed at my remark and his posture loosened.

"Nah, not me. Sonic the hedgehog is not much of a reader," he referred to himself in the third person while pointing both thumbs at himself. "…I'm more of a man of action," he continued. I smiled and shook my head, then looked back down at the book. But I couldn't keep reading anymore, because I knew he was standing right over me, watching me, so after a few seconds of silence, I sighed and closed my book, placing it on my lap.

"Alright, I get the sense that you're bored. What's up?" I asked, as I looked up at Sonic, who blinked and looked me in the eyes, like a moment ago he was staring off into space.

"Wh-What do you mean 'what's up?' Nothing's up, I don't have anything up," Sonic stammered. I glared at him.

"You're sweating," I pointed out with a small smirk. Sonic's pupils practically shrunk, and he felt at his forehead to find I was right. He stuck his hand quickly behind his back, and he made a nervous smile.

"R-Right…" he murmured, and he looked down at the ground. "Hey, y'know, I was wondering… maybe after the set tonight, do you maybe wanna see a movie with me or something?" he asked the ground, then looked up at me.

I gulped nervously and my back tensed. I'd known about Sonic's secret crush on me, ever since Rouge told me a year ago. I was hoping, all that time, that Rouge was just kidding; but of course, it was apparently very real.

Sonic must've noticed the nervousness in my face, and he knelt down by me, so his eyes were level with mine. "Look, I really like you Amy, and I hope you feel the same way," he said, taking my hand in his. I opened my mouth to speak, but only a cracking of my voice emerged. I think that kind of set Sonic off, and he gripped my hand tighter. "Amy, please… I know it's awkward, since we've been friends for so long, but… I really feel a connection between us," he said, "I'm sorry if you don't feel the same." I still could not speak, as I stared down at his hand, holding mine tight. Nothing but a small "I-I… I" could escape my lips. I didn't want to just tell Sonic I had no personal feelings towards him, because it'd ruin our friendship… but I think I did worse by not saying anything. After a few more seconds of speechlessness, Sonic's ears drooped and the light in his eyes dimmed.

"Oh… I get it then," he murmured, quieter, and he let go of my hand. "I'm sorry to have made you feel so uncomfortable…" it sounded like he had more to say, but he didn't finish it, and he turned and walked quickly away. I watched him leave, as the book casually slid off my lap and made a loud thump as it hit the floor. I wanted to shout out, "Wait, Sonic, I'm sorry! I do like you, but as a friend! Don't be mad at me!" but it was too late for that, he was already down the hall and around the corner. It took me a moment to realize my heart was thumping fast, and I slowly brought a hand to my heart.

"I'm sorry," I murmured under my breath, as I felt tears coming to my eyes.

The rest of that day was miserably long and awkward. There were two scenes where I was supposed to hug Sonic tight and "belt my love for the blue wonder" as it said in the script, but I didn't have the heart to do them to my best, and I could tell that I was making Sonic uncomfortable as well. By the end of that day, I was exhausted and ready to go home and sleep. However, just as I was about to walk inside my trailer, Sonic ran past. "_Okay Amy, now's your chance to apologize to Sonic,"_ I told myself, _"Be firm, but nice. Just tell him you don't like him in __that__ way."_ I took in a deep breath and turned to the direction Sonic ran, and I called his name. Sonic skidded to a stop and looked back at me with a straight face… it sort of scared me how stern he looked.

"What do you want?" Sonic asked me as he turned around, with a tone that sent a shiver down my spine. Never before had I heard Sonic use such a resentful voice, it almost seemed scary! I fought back the urge to shiver, and I gripped nervously at my arm.

"So listen Sonic, about earlier, I didn't mean to make you mad, I just didn't know what to say. I don't really like-."

Sonic had approached me, and he didn't give me a chance to continue. "I know exactly what you meant to do, Amy!" he interrupted hastily, and I bit my tongue. He called me Amy instead of Ames, so he must've been really pissed! "You don't like me, so you decided not to say anything when I asked, so you won't have to look like the bad guy! But, y'know, I don't need this kind of bullshit from you!" Sonic snapped.

"No, that wasn't it at all!" I cried. "I do like you, just not in that way! I like us as friends, that's it; I'm sorry, please forgive me!"

"Just save it!" Sonic shouted at me, "I've been nothing but supportive for you all throughout the years! I mean, all that hugging and affection, I thought it actually mattered!"

"That was part of the script, Sonic," I pointed out. Sonic didn't seem to get what I was throwing out.

"You're a bitch, and I don't know what I ever saw in you!" he shouted at me. I cowered under him and my ears flattened nervously, but then I lowered my eyes at him. I glared for a few, nerve-racking seconds, forming the words I were about to say in my mind.

"I don't think we should hang out for a little while. You need to calm down," I said sternly through clenched teeth, though my voice cracked slightly under the pressure.

"I need to calm down? _I_ need to calm down?" he demanded it, not just asked, demanded. He huffed and rocked on his feet. "I am completely calm! _You're _the one who I should stay away from. You need to get your priorities in order!" he snapped, and then he proceeded to shove a finger into my stomach. "If I asked any other girl on the street if she'd like go out with me, she would jump at the chance! Even if she were married, she'd kill her own husband just to get a chance to date me!" That sent me into a rage fit.

"Well I guess I'm the only smart girl in the world then," I seethed through clenched teeth. Sonic's eyes widened in anger, and he rocked on his feet, his fists clenching. "You just think you're so amazing, don't you!" I exclaimed, getting up in his face. "Well guess what, I don't want to date hedgehogs who're selfish and downright pathetic!" I probably spat in his face at least once when I yelled at him that close, and I turned my back on him. I actually felt pretty good about myself for a minute, that is, until I saw out of the corner of my eye that Sonic was rushing at me, his fists balled. I whirled around and screamed at the top of my lungs, as Sonic swung his fist at me. I was able to dodge the first attack, but then he punched at me with his second fist, and he caught me right under the jaw, delivering an uppercut that'd leave a nasty bruise in the morning, if it didn't break my jaw as well, considering the pain I was in. I fell to the ground, knocking the breath out of me, and as I gasped for my lost breath and began to cry, Sonic stood over me, and his eyes suddenly softened. His furrowed brows fell, and he backed a step away, staring at his hands in horror, like he couldn't believe what he'd done.

I felt a hot liquid running from my nose, and my mouth tasted irony, as salty tears fell down my cheeks. I forced myself to sit up, one hand covering my face to hide my nose, which was probably bleeding, and my expression, as I found it hard not to start bawling right in front of him.

"Amy, I-I don't know what came over me, I'm so sorry!" Sonic cried, as he reached out to take my wrist, the hand covering my face.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" I screamed, ripping my hand away and exposing my bloody face. Sonic's lip quivered, and he stared at me as I clenched my eyes shut and began to snivel.

"A-Amy…" Sonic murmured, slowly raising a hand towards me. I didn't give him a chance to try to explain, or apologize, or whatever he was going to say, because I turned and ran for my trailer, crying, and slamming my door behind me to leave Sonic outside by himself.

* * *

I ran straight to my bathroom to clean up my face. I stumbled into the bathroom, closing the door all but a crack, and began to bawl into my hands. I looked up at the mirror and cried out in agony, when I saw the blood dripping from my nose and mouth, and my swelling black and blue chin.

Luckily, there wasn't as much damage as I thought; after cleaning up the blood, it was only a bloody nose, nothing was broken, but my peach skin was now a sickly shade of purple-blue under my chin. Once I finished cleaning all the blood and smeared makeup from my face, I put a bandage on my chin and walked out of my bathroom, and I plopped right onto my bed. I began to cry again onto my pillow. I just couldn't believe that Sonic, of all people, could say those cruel words to my face, and most unbelievable of all, then he attacked me! I didn't know what I was going to tell Mary, my makeup artist, when she sees my black and blue surprise. I was so hurt, and I continued to cry and cry, letting all my emotions run out.

And then a knock came on my door. I looked up from my pillow, thinking at first it was just my imagination, until I heard the knock again. I pushed myself to my feet and tiptoed over to the door, fearful that it was Sonic again. I did not want to see him again, let alone talk to him. Cautiously, I peeked through the peephole in my door, and I immediately relaxed when I found it was not Sonic, but Knuckles at my door, and I opened it.

"Hi Knuckles," I said, trying my best to hide in my voice that I had just been crying. Knuckles took one look at me, and his eyes widened.

"Oh my God, Amy, are you ok?" he exclaimed. It'd completely slipped me that I still had the giant bandage under my chin, and my eyes were probably red and puffy from all my crying as well, which didn't make me look any better.

My hands, out of impulse, rose to block my face, and I wiped at my eyes for any last remnants of tears.

"Oh, yeah, I just bumped my chin against my bed rest, and it bruised pretty badly, so I put a bandage on it," I lied. "It's not too noticeable, is it?" I asked him. He shook his head no.

"You sure that's what happened? Because I thought I heard screaming over here before… is there something you're not telling me?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. I found it hard to lie to my other best friend, and I grew jittery.

"Really, I'm fine," I said, folding my arms. "What was it you came over here for?" I asked, as my hand began nervously tapping against my other arm and my eyes trailed away.

"What? We're all friends here! Why can't I just stop by to say hi to my best friend, why do I need a reason?" Knuckles jokingly asked me, making me make eye contact with him and giggle slightly, but then I looked away again. "Y-You sure you're alright?" Knuckles asked, his voice suddenly somber again. I nodded.

"Yea, I'm _fine_," I said, my eyes lazily drifting towards the floor. I heard Knuckles sigh, which made me look back up at him. He didn't look too impressed.

"Do you want to tell what really happened?" he asked. I felt my face growing hot. He was always so sweet like that, the kind that was caring for others before himself, but at this point of time, it grew annoying really fast.

"Not really… sorry, I'm not in the mood to talk," I replied, my voice quieting, and I began to close my door. I wasn't trying to be rude, although it seemed that way, but I didn't want anyone else to know what Sonic had done, or he might be tossed off the set. I knew, deep down, Sonic didn't mean to lash out, and I didn't want him to be punished because of it. However, Knuckles stopped the door with his hand, calling, "Wait, hold on!" and I stopped and opened the door again.

"What is it?"

"Do you want to get some dinner or something?" Knuckles asked, and I cringed slightly. I didn't know why he was being so nice, or why he suddenly wanted to know what was wrong, and it made me nervous. He must've realized my uneasiness to his question, because he quickly corrected himself. "Uh, what I mean is… how about I take you out for some dinner, my treat? Then we can see if you still don't want to talk," he asked nicely, finishing with a smile. I knew it was an offer, but the way he said it sounded more like, "I'm taking you to dinner, and don't you dare pay!" He was being a really sweet friend… and he would never tell if I told him, right? What he said made me blush again, and I smiled slightly and nodded, agreeing to his invite. The next thing I knew, Knuckles was taking my hand and leading me out of the trailer and towards his car. He had a nice, black and red sports car, thanks to the money we earned for being major actors in a TV show. I didn't get a car, since I couldn't drive, but I got myself a Kindle Fire, which I really wanted. All the free online books I could want, baby!

We both got into Knuckles' car, which he was legally allowed to drive since he was sixteen and a half. I smiled at him when I hopped in the passenger seat.

"You don't have to do this you know," I told him. I wanted to ask "Why are you suddenly being so nice to me?" but I thought that might throw him off. "I have my own money," I said, reaching into my pocket for my wallet.

"I know," Knuckles replied, as he got out of the car, "But I want to. You're injured." He walked around quickly and opened the door for me before I had a chance. I giggled and stepped out.

"Thank you; you're such a gentleman," I commented with a smile. I was already feeling better. It was amazing how therapeutic being around your best friends was! We both walked inside, and after finding a spot, we settled in and ordered some drinks. Once we finished with that, I folded my hands on the table and looked to Knuckles, who sat next to me.

"So, why exactly did you want to take me to dinner?" I asked.

"You looked upset, so I wanted to make you feel better," Knuckles replied with an innocent smile, as if just saying that was enough.

"And dinner seemed the best thing to do… as opposed to a friendly chat or a movie on Netflix?" I asked sarcastically with a smirk. Knuckles' cheeks flushed slightly, and he smiled.

"Ha ha, you're hilarious!" he commented. "I thought this might be a little more heartfelt. I mean, we are good friends, aren't we?" he asked. I nodded.

"Of course we are. Friends forever." I leaned my head against his shoulder and giggled. Knuckles was quiet for a moment, and he remained absolutely still with me against his shoulder, until he cleared his throat and spoke.

"So, what really happened to you? Spill hedgehog," he said, and I raised my head from his shoulder.

"Sonic… he told me he liked me… like… _liked me_ liked me," I replied. Knuckles clenched his throat muscles and he made a surprised face.

"And he hit you?" he exclaimed.

"No!" I paused and rested my head on my hands on the table. "…Yes." I admitted.

"I-I don't get it… why would he hit you if he said he liked you?" Knuckles asked. I sighed.

"It's because I didn't say anything," I replied. "I was so shocked; I didn't know what to say." Knuckles looked at me a moment, as my heartbeat began to race again.

"So… do you like him?" he asked. I nodded again.

"I like him… but just as a friend," I said. "And when I tried to tell him that, he acted as if I told him I hated him or something."

"Sonic's a little headstrong like that… probably gets it from me, I'm afraid," Knuckles admitted. He snaked his arm around my back and squeezed my shoulder. "But you did the right thing. If you really told him what you told me just now, he'll realize he'd overreacted sooner or later and come back to apologize, he always does." I closed my eyes and let my head droop an inch.

"But it feels like I've had a huge hole punched out of my chest… along with my chin," I replied. "What if he never forgives me entirely, and we stop being friends? He was my best friend for so long. I have so many memories with him in it… I don't want to have to forget him." Knuckles started to massage my shoulder with his hand, and he pulled me closer to him.

"He won't let that happen," he whispered to me. "Sonic could never let that happen. He just won't." I looked up to Knuckles, to look into his eyes, and I smiled.

"Thanks Knuckles. You're an awesome friend," I said, and I hugged him tight. Knuckles huffed slightly and patted my back.

"No problem Rose," he replied. I nuzzled my face into his shoulder and smiled bigger. I loved how he called me Rose. It made me feel like a princess from a storybook.

We finished our hug when the waitress brought our drinks. When she asked if we knew what we wanted to order, we realized we haven't even started, and embarrassed, we asked her for a few more minutes.

The rest of the evening wasn't half as deep as those first ten minutes; the rest of the time we spent telling jokes and talking about our scripts. I told him about how many times I'd have to do something embarrassing for the show, and Knuckles agreed and told me his moments. At one point I sighed.

"Oh the things Sega makes us do…"

* * *

Dinner was over pretty quickly, since we didn't really have anything to do after we finished eating, so we headed back to the studio. Knuckles invited me to his trailer, to check out his newest song. His music was always so professional-sounding (I was surprised he didn't have a career yet), and I quickly agreed and followed him. It was always so fun to walk into Knuckles' trailer, mostly because he had musical stuff everywhere, but also because he installed neon lights in his trailer. Every night in there, it feels like I'm in the streets of Tokyo!

I stepped inside and marveled at the florescent neon green, yellow, pink, and blue lights along the siding in the inside of the metal trailer, before Knuckles turned on the lights, and you could no longer see the glow.

"You moved your stuff around again," I commented with a smirk.

"Yeah, I like to change things up every now and again," he replied, as he reached for his laptop on the table. "This is my newest song… one of my slowest too," he said. After starting up his laptop, he clicked on an mp3 file labeled "The Only One." I smiled as he clicked on it and turned up the speakers he had attached to his laptop. The slow beginning of the instrumental song flowed through the surround-sound speakers, and I listened intently to the beautiful instrumentals. It sounded lovely, and I looked to Knuckles, who had a modest smile upon his muzzle.

"You like it?" he asked me.

"I love it! It's beautiful!" Knuckles handed me a piece of sheet music.

"These are the lyrics, i-if you want to look over them," he said. I started to read over the lyrics, and smiled bigger. The lyrics were about a boy being in love with someone, but she didn't know he liked her. It was very heartfelt, and I looked up to the red echidna and nodded.

"They're very meaningful lyrics," I said. Knuckles stopped the music, and quickly went to his keyboard and sat down.

"The melody sounds like this," he started, as he began to play the melody at which you're supposed to sing the song. I slowly approached the piano as well and sat next to him. I was not musically gifted, and knew nothing about how to play piano, so I just watched, before I got the gist of how the song goes, and I grabbed the sheet music and began to sing the lyrics.

As I sang, Knuckles changed the way he played, from playing what I sang to playing the instrumental behind the voice. I giggled slightly when he switched, before I continued to sing.

At one point, the lights flickered and went out, leaving us only in the light of the neons. Knuckles, however, didn't stop playing.

"Don't worry, sometimes the wiring gets blown in the wind. It'll come back on," he assured me, and I smiled and continued to sing as he played. Sure enough, the lights flickered back on a few seconds later.

As I sang Knuckles' song, one line in particular really struck me; it said, "You're lonely, deserted, you can't tell, I'm hurting too. I feel for you. I love you more than you'd ever know."

I found that my heart was beating strangely fast, and I stopped singing a few more lines after that one line. Knuckles stopped playing and looked back at me.

"Rose? You ok?"

I took a step back, tears filling my eyes, and I hid my face in my hands. I took in a deep, shaky breath.

"I-I'm fine… I j-just was suddenly reminded of…" I couldn't get the courage up to say his name. Knuckles turned in his seat and looked directly at me.

"I can take you back to your trailer… if you want," he offered. I sniffled slightly and shook my head.

"No… I'm fine," I said, though my voice didn't sound the part. The next thing I knew, Knuckles was coming up to me and hugging me close, careful not to hurt my chin.

"I'm so sorry Amy," he whispered over my shoulder to me. "You're the last person on mobius I want this to happen to." He paused for a moment, shaking his head slightly. "You have no idea how terrible I feel for you," he murmured, as he continued to squeeze me tight. I stared forward as he spoke, and the realization hit me… the song he'd written… it reminded me of myself… but no, that couldn't be possible. Knuckles and I are friends… just friends… right? Knuckles let go of me, and we looked at each other for a few seconds. In that short few seconds, the lights flickered out again, leaving us only in the electric light of the neons, and lucky for me it did, because the darkness hid the fact that I was blushing so terribly. In the light of the neons, everything had an almost romantic hue, and then Knuckles took my hand. I heard Knuckles mumble, "I'm sorry," and I felt his hand caressing my injured chin. "You don't deserve this kind of abuse," he said, his thumb rubbing against the bandage. His soft touch felt relaxing on my painful skin, and I smiled slightly at the echidna's kindness.

"Thank you Knuckles… for everything. You're ten times the friends Sonic ever was," I said sweetly. That's when something unexpected happened. Before I had a chance to figure out what was going on, Knuckles leaned forward and kissed my unsuspecting lips. It was a light kiss, his lips barely touched mine, but it still made me feel as though I'd been shot with a tranquilizer; my arms and legs grew tingly as my heart leapt in my chest. I feared he might feel how hard it pounded through my lips when he kissed me. But as soon as the kiss started, it stopped, and I stared forward in shock and awe at my best friend. My best friend… had just kissed me in his neon-lit trailer after taking me to dinner! I gulped, and waited in silence for a response. Knuckles fidgeted on his feet, and then he looked back up to me with those sparkly violet eyes.

"Amy… the truth is… I-I love you," he said quietly. "I've always loved you." He paused. "I know, this is a horrible time to say it, and I understand if you want to say no, because of what happened earlier today." You know you've done something right when you're told by two people that you're loved in the same day. But for reasons undetermined, the way Knuckles said it seemed so much more… y'know, from the heart. I don't know if it was just because I was stunned in the moment from the kiss, but I could just sense so much more love in the way he said it, opposed to Sonic's.

I knew Knuckles was blushing just as bad as me, when I laid a hand gently on his cheek and felt how hot they were as I pulled him into a second kiss. I think this time I caught him by surprise, because I felt his neck and shoulders go rigid when our lips first touched, but he quickly relaxed. Once the kiss ended, I smiled at him, my nose just a hair away from his, and I spoke.

"I think I love you too," I whispered, and I kissed him again. Knuckles looped his arms around my waist and pulled my body close as we kissed for a third time. The lights were still out, and the neon lights glowed around us, and suddenly, Knuckles' song started to play on the surround-sound speakers. I looked up confusedly at the speakers, then to the laptop, our lips barely separating as I took this opportunity to breathe.

"Oh yeah… and the mouse is very touchy on my laptop… it sometimes glitches and clicks on stuff," Knuckles explained with a smile, and we began to kiss again as the instrumental love song added just the perfect romantic mood to my very first kiss.

And that was how we ended up getting together.

* * *

**The end of chapter 1! This is not the end, in fact, this is hardly the beginning! Confrontation, decisions, romance, all of it awaits you in the upcoming chapter two, don't miss it!**


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